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OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

onebag.com

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Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#51

Post by Jtsummers »

ubermonkey wrote: post #28
OJFord wrote: post #12

I found this a particularly interesting page: https://www.onebag.com/wheeled-bags.html ('Wheeled Bags (A Disputation): The Dismal Downsides')

It's a weird article of faith for OBers that wheelies are bad, but for a huge chunk of travelers they're exactly the right option because their travels are comprised of home to car to airport to plane to taxi to hotel, all on smooth surfaces. They're the rule for business travelers and (significantly) air crews, and those choices aren't made out of fashion or inertia. I mean, if you're trekking in Nepal, yeah, it wou…

At the bottom he links to another page:

https://www.onebag.com/business-bags.html#carts

Where he discusses luggage carts as an alternative to a wheeled bag. Which is actually pretty sensible, since removing the permanently attached wheels and extending handle from your bag gets you more carrying capacity and, even combined, lower total weight. So maintain capacity at a modest weight increase, or reduce capacity at a higher weight increase. At least he provides an alternative.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#52

Post by ngokevin »

58x14 wrote: post #32

I bought a Goruck GR2 (40L capacity) in 2013 and cumulatively lived out of it for ~4 years. It's been with me up every mountain I've climbed, on 3 continents, on my back as I rode a motorcycle through a snowstorm. I've slept on it, swam with it, skied with it. After nearly 9 years, it's in perfect condition, and one of my most cherished possessions. I'm not one to anthropomorphize... but this one bag is my best frien…

I've had a HMG 3400 SW and my wife a Gossamer Gear Mariposa for 6 years. We got it for backpacking 5+ days in US wilderness, but they act as our one-bags across Latam. We didn't have a "one bag" mindset, we always just pack light.

They collapse down enough that they easily fit underneath the seat on a budget airline and look like a college kid's backpack. And they expand enough they we've done multiple 4-7 day treks holding tents and sleeping bags (40L and 50+10L).

And we roll up some smaller day bags inside for daily use.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#54

Post by AlbertCory »

Laundry is one of the biggest hassles of travel, IMHO. Hotels charge extortionate prices to launder your clothes. Many cities don't have self-service laundromats, and even if they do, you don't feel like wasting two hours using one. I personally do not like washing things in my room, but if you do, there you go.

What I've found, though, is that it's easy and cheap to get someone else to do it for you. In Sydney, I got a laundry place to do my clothes for AUS 15. In Chicago, a lot of dry cleaning places will also do your laundry for you, at reasonable prices. That's probably true in any city.

Less obviously: in Rosh Pinna (Israel), there weren't any of either type of place, but my B&B had a cleaning staff person who took the clothes home with her and washed them, using whatever method she uses on her family's clothes.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#55

Post by anonporridge »

throw0101a wrote: post #47
ubermonkey wrote: post #26

I've seen this site before. It's, um, zealous. I travel light. I have since the 90s. I never ever ever checked a bag before 9/11, but since then I've often done so for two reasons: - Absurd restrictions on liquids in the cabin; and - Equally absurd restrictions on carrying my Swiss Army Knife. Once you check a bag, you need another bag to carry some essentials aboard the plane. Even on a short weekend trip, though, i…

> - Equally absurd restrictions on carrying my Swiss Army Knife. You're not wrong, but for possible future reference, multitools are fine as long as they don't have a knife ( * https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/...

The TSA can and does confiscate anything they want. If you happen to get the wrong agent on the wrong day, they may still choose to confiscate a technically compliant multitool.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#56

Post by BiteCode_dev »

I went the other route: I used to be minimalist, now I even bring my kettlebells, game pads and different pairs of shoes on my business trips.

Even in the moutain, I now have a heavier bag. E.G: my latest knife is way bigger, sturdier and so weights a lot more, I also have a smaller one as a backup now.

Being minimalist is not an end goal, it serves a purpose. E.G: to make your life simpler, easier, to help with focus, or to go green.

But I feel like people are more and more travelling light for virtue signaling at this point. You cannot just travel light. Everybody must know you do.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#57

Post by Invictus0 »

futureshock wrote: post #20

I’ll offer up my one bag take that’s very much against the mainstream of one bag aficionados. I love traveling light, but think the carefully curated list of expensive branded items are counterproductive. I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable. If the bag gets stolen, I should be able to walk into the nearest mall and replace everything that was in it without a s…

Yeah, it's a ridiculous take because the specialized things you have in a nice onebag setup are not going to be easy to find in a random store. Just replacing the backpack itself is going to be a major issue if you are outside of the United States.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#58

Post by alibosworth »

An entertaining (if not extreme) take on this general topic is the “Vagrant Holiday” series of videos.

I appreciate his dedication to ultra minimalist travelling without any of the hype that is usually involved. Nothing about expensive gear, just actually not needing much.

https://youtube.com/c/VagrantHoliday

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#59

Post by ghaff »

AlbertCory wrote: post #54

Laundry is one of the biggest hassles of travel, IMHO. Hotels charge extortionate prices to launder your clothes. Many cities don't have self-service laundromats, and even if they do, you don't feel like wasting two hours using one. I personally do not like washing things in my room, but if you do, there you go. What I've found, though, is that it's easy and cheap to get someone else to do it for you. In Sydney, I go…

>I personally do not like washing things in my room, but if you do, there you go.

The trick is to carry the right clothing IMO. You're probably not going to wash jeans or a heavy cotton hoodie. But it's pretty easy with lightweight synthetics and wool.

I have used wash and fold places on longer trips especially when I've been doing hiking in addition to business/cities. But you have to find one. Drop clothes off. Pick them back up. Which all takes time even if you don't have to hang around while they're being washed.

Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

#60

Post by Hokusai »

futureshock wrote: post #20

I’ll offer up my one bag take that’s very much against the mainstream of one bag aficionados. I love traveling light, but think the carefully curated list of expensive branded items are counterproductive. I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable. If the bag gets stolen, I should be able to walk into the nearest mall and replace everything that was in it without a s…

> I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable. If the bag gets stolen, I should be able to walk into the nearest mall and replace everything that was in it without a second thought or single shed tear.

I do that if it fits the purpose off the trip. I buy clothes during the trip if needed and that clothes are a nice memory of the trip when I wear them at home.

But quite often, my trip stars as a business trip, so I have to carry my laptop, or I want to do photography and I want to carry my camera and other equipment. For that I need a reasonable bag.

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